I Believe I have Alternator whine. My speakers whistle in perfect sync with
my RPM's it seems.

I have the following installed on my 99 BMW M3.

Kenwood Head unit.

JL Xr Speakers front and back.

Two JL Amps: A 450/4 driving my front and backs. A 500/1 driving my sub.
I believe I have isolated it to the 450/4 amp as when I disconnect the
inputs from the head unit the whine is still there.

Both Amps are drawing their power direct from the battery.
Both negative cables from the amps go to the negative post directly on the
battery.

The power cables are isolated from the RCA's.
Would moving the negative cables from the amps to a chssis ground help maybe
instead of going directly to the battery?

Is it OK if they both bolt into the same point?

I really do not want to get a filter but rather isolate and take care of the
problem if possible.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Paul



--

Try upgrading the ground on the alternator to atleast 8 gauge if not 4.

They way you discribed the install sounds fine!


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Gmac
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as a last resort, might also want to try and relocate the amp.
Sometimes just miving it away from the noise source, or removing it from
an EMI/RFI heavy location can help. This worked wonders in my accord.

Garrett

Kerry Graber wrote:

I Believe I have Alternator whine. My speakers whistle in perfect sync with
my RPM's it seems.

I have the following installed on my 99 BMW M3.

Kenwood Head unit.

JL Xr Speakers front and back.

Two JL Amps: A 450/4 driving my front and backs. A 500/1 driving my sub.
I believe I have isolated it to the 450/4 amp as when I disconnect the
inputs from the head unit the whine is still there.

Both Amps are drawing their power direct from the battery.
Both negative cables from the amps go to the negative post directly on the
battery.

The power cables are isolated from the RCA's.
Would moving the negative cables from the amps to a chssis ground help maybe
instead of going directly to the battery?

Is it OK if they both bolt into the same point?

I really do not want to get a filter but rather isolate and take care of the
problem if possible.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Paul


--

In article ,
Kerry Graber wrote:

I Believe I have Alternator whine. My speakers whistle in perfect sync with
my RPM's it seems.

I have the following installed on my 99 BMW M3.

Kenwood Head unit.

JL Xr Speakers front and back.

Two JL Amps: A 450/4 driving my front and backs. A 500/1 driving my sub.
I believe I have isolated it to the 450/4 amp as when I disconnect the
inputs from the head unit the whine is still there.

Both Amps are drawing their power direct from the battery.
Both negative cables from the amps go to the negative post directly on the
battery.

The power cables are isolated from the RCA's.
Would moving the negative cables from the amps to a chssis ground help maybe
instead of going directly to the battery?

Is it OK if they both bolt into the same point?

I really do not want to get a filter but rather isolate and take care of the
problem if possible.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Paul



--




So it whines when the RCA cables are on the amp but not the HU? Unless
you bought unshielded $2 headphone cable, it sounds like the amp is bad.

Feel free to eliminate the long negative cables. They're a waste of
copper and voltage.

negative doesn't have to go to the neg battery post...you can ground to
any metal part of your car and it will be just fine....i don't know if
that relates at all to the noise...prob not...but just mentioning


--
lanzarsaturn
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Kevin McMurtrie wrote:
Feel free to eliminate the long negative cables. They're a waste of
copper and voltage. [/b]

As far as being a waste of voltage, that is not true if the wire is of
a heavy enough gauge (size deoending on current), If the amp is
grounded to metal on the car it still has to travel through the car
back to the negative post.
Some companies recomend grounding back to the battery with larger amps.
As well it does help eliminate noise.


--
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Soundfreak03 wrote:
*Some companies recomend grounding back to the battery with larger
amps.

It does not help eliminate noise. A chassis ground is every bit as
good as
running wire all the way back to the battery. It is just cheaper and
easier.

Les *

If you have a good chasis ground, I have seen many grounds that were
the cause of noise probllems.


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If you have a good chasis ground, I have seen many grounds that were
the cause of noise probllems.

I well qualified installer or a DIY guy should be able to make a good chassis
ground. If one cannot then they should not be putting in amps.
But you are most correct in saying that bad chassis grounds are a cause of
noise. But then again how many of those people did not have any business
installing in the first place

Les

It seems as though one or some of the actual speaker contacts were touching
the metal part inside the door. When I pull the speakers out they sound
perfect. When in the hole whine. The hole is kind of tight. I am going to
try and make it a little bigger.
Any thoughts?

Would electrical tape on the ouitside of the contacts help?

Thanks,
Paul

Other note:It is worse on one speaker and faint on another. When out no
noise.






in article , Soundfreak03 at
othanks wrote on 9/8/03 1:04 AM:

If you have a good chasis ground, I have seen many grounds that were
the cause of noise probllems.

I well qualified installer or a DIY guy should be able to make a good chassis
ground. If one cannot then they should not be putting in amps.
But you are most correct in saying that bad chassis grounds are a cause of
noise. But then again how many of those people did not have any business
installing in the first place

Les

In article ,
Kerry Graber wrote:

It seems as though one or some of the actual speaker contacts were touching
the metal part inside the door. When I pull the speakers out they sound
perfect. When in the hole whine. The hole is kind of tight. I am going to
try and make it a little bigger.
Any thoughts?

Would electrical tape on the ouitside of the contacts help?

Thanks,
Paul

Other note:It is worse on one speaker and faint on another. When out no
noise.


Use a nibbler/angle cutter. It's great for cutting sheet metal at a
right angle. When you squeeze the handle, a bladed shaft pulls through
the sheet metal and nibbles out a little rectange. It sure beats other
hacks. Radio Shack sells one that's good for light use. A few hardware
stores have them too.






in article , Soundfreak03 at
othanks wrote on 9/8/03 1:04 AM:

If you have a good chasis ground, I have seen many grounds that were
the cause of noise probllems.

I well qualified installer or a DIY guy should be able to make a good
chassis
ground. If one cannot then they should not be putting in amps.
But you are most correct in saying that bad chassis grounds are a cause of
noise. But then again how many of those people did not have any business
installing in the first place

Les

Agree, short ground to the closest metal part of the car is best. It
worked for me.

lanzarsaturn wrote:
negative doesn't have to go to the neg battery post...you can ground to
any metal part of your car and it will be just fine....i don't know if
that relates at all to the noise...prob not...but just mentioning


--
lanzarsaturn
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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Regrettably a known and common problem on the E36 M3. Upgrade to the 140
amp alternator.

El Mag
--
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Kerry Graber wrote
It seems as though one or some of the actual speaker contacts were
touching
the metal part inside the door. When I pull the speakers out they sound
perfect. When in the hole whine. The hole is kind of tight. I am going to
try and make it a little bigger.
Any thoughts?

Would electrical tape on the ouitside of the contacts help?

Thanks,
Paul

Other note:It is worse on one speaker and faint on another. When out no
noise.

Kevin recommends cutting to provide the clearance. That would work, but I
don't know very many BMW owners that want to start chewing away at their car
with a nibbler.
Perhaps you have enough room to mount the speakers on a spacer? That would
give you more clearance. If you can move the speakers forward even 1/2", it
would probably solve the contact issue.

--
Regards,
Dan Snooks